To you

Remember to come with me,
hold my hand,
to the places where earth and sky are wide,
one early morning
as the dew falls,
a lone tree on the edge of Da Lat.
On a pale sunset day
sing a love song.

Remember with me
those ardent years
in a faraway city
where we were nothing at all.
Like a strange, dim lamp,
like a canopy of misted maple leaves,
like a book of many chapters
stacked unread by the bed.

Come with me and forget the hard days,
walk down the wide, open road,
pour out the worries, every sorrow we carry,
no longer caring for the ruins.

Hold my hand through the door,
grow old until we're very old,
over a cup of tea one rainy afternoon,
leaning on each other, a life that is just enough!

---

Tan, 26 February 2022
First published in Vietnamese on Phong is writing. English translation for this site.